Article handling apparatus



y 1937- c. J. HACKBARTH El AL 2,086,128

ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 30, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheetl July 6, 1937- c. J. HACKBARTH ET AL 2,086,123

ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Filed 001;. so, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q m 2 AM H mm M N w r l W w l l MK H I. 3 a r a 6 w a y M arrows showing a detail of construction and ul "6, 1937 um'rao 'sT Tasaosam an'rrcm minimum mm'rus can 3. Backbarth and cu v. Lnndeen, Baltimore, Mil, minors to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New'York, N. Y., a corll ration of New York Application October so, 1935, Serial No. 41,300

12 cum. Thisinvention relates'to article handling apparatus, and more particularly to feeding mech; anisms for feeding small parts to a punch press.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple automatic .feedlng mechanism for article, forming apparatus.

In accordance with one embodiment, the invention contemplates the provision of a chute for feeding headed parts -to an oscillating member which -will receive one part from the chute and will be oscillated in timed relation -to the step-by-step rotation of a dialto move the article to a position above an article receiving portion of the dial, a plate beingprovided beneath the oscillating member to prevent the article being fed from dropping through the oscillating member until the-slot in the oscillating member and the article receivingslot in the dial reach a predetermined position where they are indirect Fig. 4,-is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows showing the construction of the chute;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the of the oscillatable member, and

Fig. 6 is a developed sectional .view takenon the line 6-6 of Fig. 2 in the direction of th arrows.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views, the numeral l (Fig. 1)'

designates generally a punch press having a base ll of any suitable type upon which are mounted a bed l2 and uprights |3|3. The uprights support and guide a reciprocating ram M which is operated in the usual manner by a crank i5 formed on a shaft l6, a fly wheel l1 secured'tothe shaft insuring regularity of operation. Fixed to the shaft l6 upon the end thereof opposite to (01. io lcz'i the end upon which the fly wheel is mounted a an indexing crank wheel 23. In the usual manner the indexing crank wheel 23 operates a rod .24 pivotally secured to one arm of a bell crank lever 25 which is pivotedupon the base II and has a dial indexing rod 26 pivotally securedto its other arm.-

The rod 26 has the forward end thereof pivoted to an indexing lever 30. oscillatable about a hearing .3l mounted upon the bed l2. The lever 33 has pivotally secured thereto -a pawl 32 which cooperates with a ratchet 33 whereby upon each reciprocation of the rod 26 the ratchet 33 will be rotated one step. Secured to the ratchet 33 is a locking plate 34 which cooperates with a suitable locking pin (not shown) to accurately position a dial 35 secured thereto in a predetermined angular position each time the pawl 32 and ratchet 33 are operated. The dial 35 is rotatably mount-. ed on an upward extension 29 of the bearing 3|.

The intermittent rotary motion imparted through the pawl and ratchet mechanism serves to carry headed articles 36 shown in dot and dash lines in Figs. 3, 4, -5 and 6 to a position to'be operated uponby the ram M, which position is indicated generally by the numeral3'l. The tools for operating'upon'the headed articles have not been disclosed since they do not form a part of I the present invention. The operation performed by the ram includes the flattening of .the tip 38 (Fig. 4) of the article 36 which comprises a shank 39, a tip 38 and. a shoulder 40.

I Positioned upon a portion of the bed I2 is a hopper 50 in which a number of articles 36 to be worked upon may be placed and from which the articles may be transferred by a suitable oscillating lever (not shown) to a chute indicated generally by the numeral 5!. This-chute is composed of a pair of plates 52 between which the shank 39 of the articles will lie and upon the upper surface of which the shoulder 40 of the article will rest. A cooperating angle member 53 is provided for holding articles in the chute. The

upper ends of the plates 52 and angle member 53 (Fig. 1) are suitably secured to the hopper 50, and at their lower end (Fig. 1) as more clearly shown in Fig. 3 they are secured to each other, suitable spacers being provided at 54 and 55 and the plates 52 and angle member 53 are secured to a support 56.

Extending around the dial is a retaining ring 62 one purpose of which is to hold the articles 36 in nests 63 formed in the dial while the articles are being advanced to a position to be operated upon by the ram I l, and another purring 62 at 64. V

-An oscillatable member 66 is pivoted to the portion 26 of the bearing 3| at 66 being held in place upon an upwardly extending portion 61 of the bearing by a retaining nut 66. -This oscillatable member 66 extends to the left (Fig. 3) from its bearing and is then bent downwardly, as shown. at 66 and is provided with a horizontally extending portion IO-which extends under the chute 6|; A nest Ii is formed in the oscillatable member '66 into which parts from the chute 6| will be dropped when the oscillatable member 66 is in a predetermined position. The comers. of the nest 1| are tapered as shown at 63 to guide the articles 36 dropped from the chute 6| into; the,

lower portion of thenest 1|.

The nest II. in the oscillatable member is in the form of an irregularly shaped slot. adapted to receive articles .36 fromthe' chute 6| to transfer the articles to the nests 63 in ,the dial 36. A

guide member 66 is secured between the retaining ring 62 and the support 66 to prevent articles 36 from dropping through the nest 1| while the oscillatable member 66. isin the position shown in Figs. 2; 3 and 6. This guide member 66 has a groove 6| fo'rmed'therein in which thehead 46' of the article 36 may roll or slide when the oscillatable member 66 is oscillated thereby to guide the articles 36 to a position at the end of the anti-clockwise oscillation of member 66 where the nest II will be-in direct vertical alignment with the nest 63 in the dial 36, a stop member 62 being provided to facilitate the directing The actuating member 61 has an aperture 66 formed therein in which is loosely positioned a rod 66 secured by means of clamping members 66-66 to the rod 26. Encircling the rod 66 are a pair of'coiled springs 6| and 62 which are held under compression against the actuating member 61 by a stop member 63 and lock nuts 64- 64, respectively. In order that the pressure which the cooperating springs 6| and 62'exert upon member 61 may be equalized to compensate for fatigue in either one or other of the springs 6| and 62, adjusting means is provided comprising a dowel I66 which may be placed in any one of a plurality of holes |6| to vary the pressure of spring 6i on the actuating member 61 and the lock nuts 64--64 may then be adjusted to properly position the actuating member 61.

A better understanding of the invention will be had from the following description of the operation of the mechanism: Let it be assumed that a plurality of articles 36 have been placed in the hopper 66 and the drive mechanism (not shown) for the punch press has been started. Articles 36. may be fed from the hopper 66 in any well known manner, and positioned in the chute 6| with the shanks 36 of the articles hanging between the cooperating plates 62 and with the shoulders 46 of the articles engaging the upper surfaces of the plates 62 as shown in dot and dash lines (Figs. 3 and 4). The articles 36 will then slide down the chute 6| and be tilted from a "'iFig. 2),. to carry parts which. had previously been deposited inv the nests 63 around to the position to be worked upon as indicated generally by the numeral 3'1. Each time the rod 26 is moved todrive-the dial 36 in a counter-clockwise direction; it will carry with it rod 66 and will tend to move the arm and its associated oscillatable member 66 in a counter-clockwise direction. If for any reason an article 36 has got out of position, the rod 66 will be moved but the spring 6| will be compressed and the arm 64 and oscillatable member 66 will not be. moved. However, in the normaloperation of the machine the arm 64 will be actuated each time the rod 26 is actuated. The normal position of the oscillatable member 66 is as is shown in Fig. 2 where the nest II in theoscillatable member is directly in alignment with the chute 6| so that articles 36 which have moved down to chute 6| will drop into the nest ii and when the oscillatable member 66 is moved in a counter-clockwise direction, the arti- -cle 36 in the nest II will be carried to a position where the nest H and the nests 63 in the dial 36 are in direct vertical alignment whereupon the article will drop into the nest 63, being prevented gen: jumping out of position by the stop mem- The position where the dial nest 63 and the nest H in the oscillatable member 66 are in direct vertical alignment is the position at the end of the stroke of the pawl 32. When the pawl 32 is retracted to engage another notch in the ratchet 33,, the oscillatable member 66 will be retracted to the position shown in Fig. 2 and another article 36 will drop from the chute 6| into the nest II, It will be noted that the guide member 66 extends to the right (Fig. 6) to the edge of the first nest 63 to the right of the nest under the chute 6| whereby the article carried in the nest ll cannot drop into the nest 63 until the end of the stroke of the pawl 32.

What is claimed is:

1. In an article handling apparatus, a movable work table having nests for receiving articles to be worked upon, means for indexing said table, a chute for feeding the articles, a movable member having a recess for receiving articles from the chute, and means operating in timed relation to said indexing meansjfor moving said recessed to deposit the articles in said nests.

2. In an article handling apparatus, a rotatable dial having dial nests for receiving articles to be worked upon, means tor intermittently rotating said dial, an oscillatable member for depositing articles in said dial nests, a chute for feeding articles to said oscillatable member, and resilient means for moving said oscillatable member about the axis of rotation of the dial from operative relation with said chute to a position to deposit articles in a dial nest.

3. In an article handling apparatus, a rotatable dial having dial nests for receiving articles to be worked upon, means for intermittently rotating said dial, an oscillatable member for depositing articles -in said dial nests, a chute for feeding articles to said oscillatable member. and resilient table from operative relation with said chute to a position to deposit articles in a dial nest.

4. In a feeding mechanism for a punch press having an intermittently rotated dial provided with dial nests for carrying parts to the press, a chute for receiving headed articles to be worked upon by the punch press, means for imparting an intermittent rotation to the dial, an oscillatable member having an article receiving nest therein, a guide member positioned beneath the oscillatable member for holding an article in the nest of the oscillatable member, and resilient means interconnecting the rotating means of the dial and the oscillatable member for oscillating the oscillatable member to move its article receiving nest into position to receive an article from said chute andto a position in alignment with a nest in the dial.

5. The combination with a punch press having an intermittently rotated dial and means for imparting intermittent rotation to said dial, of a chute for guiding aricles to a predetermined position above said dial and in vertical alignment with a nest in said dial, an oscillatable member for receiving parts from said chute and transferring them in an arcuate path while holding them above said dial nest during its movement to a position to be received by said dial, and means interconnecting the means for imparting intermittent rotation to the dial and said oscillatable member to drive said oscillatable member.

6. The combination with a punch press having an intermittently rotated dial and means for imparting intermittent rotation to said dial, of a chute for guiding articles to a predetermined position with respect to said dial, an oscillatable member for receiving parts from said chute and transferring them to a position to be received by said dial, and means comprising a rod connected to the means for intermittently driving the dial and a member slidable on said rod, said slidable member being held in a central position on said rod by compensating coiled springs and being fixed to said oscillatable member to intermittently tend to oscillate the oscillatable member.

7. In an article handling apparatus, a rotatable dial having dial nests for receiving articles to be worked upon, means for intermittently rotating said dial, an oscillatable member for carrying an article in alignment with a dial nest movement of the member and dial for depositing articles in said dial nests, a guide member positioned between the oscillatable member and the dial to prevent articles from dropping out of the oscillatable member until the dial nest and oscillatable member are in a predetermined position, a chute for feeding articles to said oscillatable member, and resilient means for moving said oscillatable member from operative relation with said chute to a position to deposit articles in a dial nest.

8. In an article handling apparatus, a rotatable dial having dial nests for receiving articles to be worked upon, means for intermittently rotating said dial, an oscillatable member for depositing articlesin said dial nests, a chute for feeding articles to said oscillatable member, resilient means for moving said oscillatable member from operative relation with said chute to a position to deposit articles in a dial nest comprising a rod secured to the means for rotating the dial, a pair .and the dial to prevent articles from dropping out of the oscillatable member until the dial nest and oscillatable member are in a predetermined position, a chute for feeding articles to said oscillatable member, resilient means for moving said oscillatable member from operative relation with said chute to a position to deposit articles in a dialnest comprising a rod secured to the means for rotating the dial, a pair of cooperating springs mounted on said rod, and an actuating member positioned between said springs and fixed to theoscillatable member.

10. In an article handling apparatus, a rotatable dial having dial nests formed therein for receiving articles to be worked upon, a stationary retaining ring for holding parts in the dialnests during rotation of the dial, actuating means for imparting a step by step rotation to the dial, a chute for feeding parts to a predetermined position, an oscillatable member cooperating with and positioned below said chute and having a nest formed therein for receiving parts from said chute, a guide plate fixed to the retaining ring and interposed between the oscillatable member and the dial to prevent articles in the nest of the oscillatable member from passing to the dial nests in predetermined positions of the oscillatable member, a resilient means interconnecting the actuating means for the dial with the oscillatable member, and a stop member fixed to the retaining ring for guiding an article from the nest in the oscillatable member to a dial nest.

11. In an article handling apparatus,-a rotatable dial having dial nests for receiving articles to be worked upon, means for intermittently rotating said dial, an oscillatable member for depositing articles in said dial nests, a stationary chute for feeding articles to said oscillatable member, and a resilient means interconnecting said oscillatable member and dial rotating means for moving said oscillatable member in the same arcuate path as the dial to carry an article from d the chute to a dial nest.

12. In an article handling apparatus, a rotatable dial having dial nests for receiving articles to be worked upon, means for intermittently rotating said dial, an oscillatable member for depositing articles in said dial nests, a stationary chute for feeding articles to said oscillatable member, and resilient means interconnecting said oscillatable member and dial rotating means for moving said oscillatable member in the same arcuate path as the dial and in a plane parallel to the plane of movement of the dial to carry an article from the chute to a dial nest.

CARL J. HACKBARTH. CARL V. LUNDEEN. 

